276 GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



and on cold nights. When to be used by the grower, it 

 is very convenient to give them their final shift into 

 deep flats, where, if placed four inches apart, they will 

 do better than if left in pots, and require less care, 

 besides being more convenient for handling. 



The alternanthera requires a moist air and can be 

 best propagated if the stock plants are placed in a good 

 hotbed, also using it for striking the cuttings and grow- 

 ing the plants. The care necessary to winter and prop- 

 agate coleus and achyranthes is about the &ame as for 

 alternanthera, except that the cuttings are usually 

 potted singly. If carefully watered and the temperature 

 is kept at 60 degrees, they can be grown with little loss. 

 Among the best varieties of coleus for bedding purposes 

 are the Verschaffeltii, which is of a rich, dark maroon 

 color and has been for years at the head of the list, 

 and Golden Verschaffeltii, similar to the last in growth, 

 but of a clear, bright yellow. 



The varieties of achyranthes are either of some 

 shade of red, or of yellow with a green ground. The 

 best of the red leaved sorts are the Hoveyii, with dull, 

 carmine leaves, which are broadly ovate in form and 

 have whitish veins ; Lindenii, with lanceolate, rich, 

 blood-red leaves; Herbstii aurea-reticulata, with carmine 

 stems, petioles and veins, while the leaves are green 

 blotched with yellow. Among the others are Emersonii, 

 a variety resembling Lindenii, and Grilsonii, which dif- 

 fers from aurea-reticulata principally in the shape 

 of the leaves. 



Among the better varieties of alternanthera are A. 

 amabilis, A. spectabilis, A. paronychioides, A. parony- 

 chioides major, and A. versicolor, which have various 

 shades of red, orange and bronze, or olive green, and 

 A. paronychioides major aurea, with a foliage colored 

 green and yellow. The latter, especially, is very useful 

 for bedding purposes. 



